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From: Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action
Subject: Re: Fallout 4 Next-Gen Dud
Date: Sat, 27 Apr 2024 10:17:26 -0400
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On Fri, 26 Apr 2024 14:18:35 -0400, Mike S. <Mike_S@nowhere.com>
wrote:

>On Fri, 26 Apr 2024 11:39:49 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson
><spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>But this (and "Starfield"... and "Skyrim Special Edition"... and
>>"Redfall".. and... and... and...) makes you really wonder what's going
>>on at Bethesda HQ. There seems to be an increasing lack of quality
>>from their products recently (and Bethesda games have been pretty
>>janky from the start). It's like watching a slow-motion car crash.
>>Will they be able to turn it around, you wonder? Or is everything
>>going to end up in fire and ruin?
>
>Interesting view about them. We'll see in time if you are onto
>something here.
>
>I own a lot of Bethesda titles and yet I don't really recall having a
>great time with any of them. I don't have any idea why I buy their
>games.

I can't say I never have fun with them... but their games always
require some effort to love. Even from the earliest games, it's been
that way. 

I remember playing "Terminator: 2029" and - as much as I loved it -
even at the times I recognized it as a flawed game. It used tile-based
movement. Its enemies respawned constantly. Its maps were stupidly
large and mazelike. Its missions - which could take hours to complete
- lacked in-game saves. There were a lot of filler missions. It was
often a struggle to keep playing. But it captured the feel of the
Terminator franchise very well, it had (for its time) impressive
visuals, and the battle-armor you wore into battle was awesome kit. So
I kept playing it, and generally came away satisfied... but it
required effort on my part to get there. Effort I am not entirely sure
was justified given the reward.

Later Bethesda games were similar. Some of their games ("Terminator:
Rampage" and "Elder Scrolls: Battlespire", for instance) were flat-out
terrible. But most of their games had great potential /if/ you could
overlook the flaws. Most of the "Elder Scrolls" series falls into that
category, but it also includes games like "Call of Cthulhu: Dark
Corners of the Earth'.  You could see the brilliance behind the games,
but it was always lessened by an imperfect implementation.

Bethesda's "Fallout" series never ranked that highly for me. Oh, I had
fun with "Fallout 3", and "New Vegas" was an interesting spin-off. But
the series always felt like an also-ran, mostly because it too closely
aped the "Elder Scrolls" series. Sure, the Fallout games had their own
personality, but mechanically it took no chances and offered little
novelty. 

Sadly, their "Fallout" games were indicative of the future. Bethesda
was releasing games that were little more than slightly improved
versions of games they'd released a few years prior. Morrowind,
Oblivion, Skyrim, Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, Fallout 4, Fallout
76, Starfield... Bethesda was quickly becoming the Ubisoft of
open-world RPGs. Worse, they were making little attempt to fix the
glaring flaws - the aging engine powering their games, the awful
writing, the lackluster plots, the poor world-building, the bad
physics, the ridiculous AI - that had been with those games from the
start.  Bethesda was stuck in a rut. 

It didn't help that they got hooked to pointless DLC and re-releasing
older games with increasing ridiculous "game of the year" and "special
editions", milking every title over and over again. Nor did their
attempts to profit off their fans creations, when it was often those
creations that made their franchises so popular to start with. It
painted a picture of a company that didn't have a clear vision
anymore, other than to somehow make money. 

I still like Bethesda games. I have very fond memories of playing
"Skyrim" and "Oblivion" and even "Fallout 3". But those memories also
include dealing with a lot of Bethesda jank. For a long time, the good
parts of their games - the visuals, the fun of exploring their well
detailed worlds - outbalanced the bad. But the company's reliance on
formula, the lack of novelty... it only makes the flaws in its process
all the more obvious. I can understand why opinion is turning against
them.